NELLYSFORD, Va. – Washington and Lee University shot 305 in Tuesday’s third and final round of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Men’s Golf Championships to hold off five-time defending tournament champion Guilford College for the Generals’ 13th league title Tuesday. Washington and Lee, which earned the ODAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championships, shot 304-302-305-911 to outdistance the five-time defending league champion Quakers (297-317-309-923) and third-place Virginia Wesleyan College (302-307-316-925) in the 10-team field.
Virginia Wesleyan sophomore Evan Cox, named the ODAC’s Men’s Golfer of the Year Monday, shot Tuesday’s low round to claim medalist honors. Cox fired his second round of 71 on the par-72, 6.916-yard Monacan/Shamokin layout on the Stoney Creek Golf Course at the Wintergreen Resort. The Marlins’ first ODAC Tournament medalist, Cox fired a 71-74-71-216 for a nine-stroke win over Washington and Lee’s Luke Farley (72-76-77-225). The Generals’ Todd Alan McDonald (79-71-78) and Shenandoah University’s Evan Cocke (78-72-78) shared third place at 228, one stroke better than Guilford’s Tommy Schick (72-80-77) and Ty Palmer (Kernersville, N.C./Forsyth Country Day) (71-78-80). Hampden-Sydney College’s Parker Smith also shot 229 and joined the aforementioned students on the All-ODAC Tournament Team.
Guilford started the day eight strokes off the lead and hoped for a quick start. The Quakers’ Josh Hill eagled the par-five first hole and Justin Perdue was even through nine holes, but the consistent Generals played comfortably with their advantage to hold off Guilford and Virginia Wesleyan. Perdue ended up with Guilford’s low round, a 75, followed by Schick’s 77. Aaron Abts (Winston-Salem, N.C./Ledford (UNC Pembroke) (78) and Hill (79) provide the Quakers’ remaining scores Tuesday.
Perdue rallied into eighth place in the 50-man field with a 54-hole score of 76-80-75-231. The Quakers were the lone team with three contestants among the top-eight finishers. Hill finished 20th with a 78-79-79-236. Abts came home in 38th with a 92-81-78-251.
Coach Justin Tereshko’s Quakers are ranked 15th in the latest Bushnell Golfweek Division III Coaches’ Poll and 17th in the Golfstat.com NCAA Division III Head-to-Head Ratings. The team hopes to receive one of six at-large berths to the 41-team Division III Championships May 10-13 in Rochester, N.Y. The field will be determined May 2.